Parenting under the poverty line
Meet Jane, a single mother of two sons just entering their teenage years. The oldest is disabled and her youngest has learning disabilities.
“There are a lot of barriers. It takes a lot of patience and it takes a lot of time to get around those barriers, and a lot of tight budgeting,” she says.
Viola's Place
Lisa Deyoung wants Viola’s Place to be more than somewhere warm on cold nights for those in crisis. She wants it to be a place of hope.
The board is looking at 2021 as a year in which it can increase the shelter's programs for those in the community.
“This will be used to assist in life skills training,” Deyoung explained. “We will be offering cooking classes, and will be able to prepare meals for shelter clients and community members who may need food support.”
Pantry to combat poverty
Dustin Madden knows what it is to be poor. He grew up in poverty and all the challenges that come with it.
That’s why, in October 2020, Madden decided to do something to help those he knew would be hurting financially in his Stellarton neighbourhood.
School play an important role
Students showing up hungry to school is something teachers, unfortunately, are used to. But COVID-19 has opened the eyes of even those hardened to these truths to the needs of children they teach each day.
“We got into people’s homes virtually more than ever,” says Trenton Middle School Principal Matthew Clarke referring to the period last spring when students were learning from home. “It brought it into the spotlight a little bit more.”
It wasn’t what they saw through virtual classes so much that worried teachers, but rather the ones who they never heard from – families without computers or the internet.
It's part of the reason schools in Pictou County are making sure students are well fed because studies and experience show that kids learn better when they have proper access to healthy food.
'There is a crisis'
One in four children in Pictou County is living in poverty.
Despite federal programs such as the Canada Child Benefit which lifted many children above the poverty threshold, it’s clear that many still struggle to make ends meet each month.
“It’s very disheartening,” Ellen Fanning, executive director of the United Way of Pictou County, an umbrella organization that helps distribute donations to various community organizations.
The United Way is doing what it can to help.
